The present invention relates to an explosive device included in an armor-piercing type projectile for the purpose of producing a high velocity molten metal jet of great penetrating capability.
Various means have been used in the past to produce a "shaped charged" jet in an armor-piercing explosive. In present practice holes through heavy metal armor plates and other hard objects are frequently produced using lined cavities configured in an explosive. In these prior art shaped charges, the detonation of the explosive causes a liner to implode on an axis at verY high speed. The implosion, in turn, projects some of the liner material forward along the axis at even higher speed. This forward projecting material forms a jet of great penetrating power.
One of the problems with these prior art shaped charge devices was that the length of these explosive charges exceed 1.4 times their diameter by the nature of their design. In addition the liners require a certain degree of care in their manufacture to produce a suitable metal jet with sufficient velocity to penetrate the target.
The present invention is superior to the prior art shaped charge devices and method of explosively producing a metal penetrating jet because it only requires an easily fabricated metal disc with tapered edge. In addition, the present method utilizes a more compact explosive charge configuration than the prior art, and thus offers advantages of size as well as ease of manufacturing.